In late 1914, Wall Street Journal publisher Clarence W. Barron (1855-1928) traveled to England and France to learn firsthand the reasons for the world war that had raged since August 1914.
This visit resulted in a series of articles in The Wall Street Journal from December 29, 1914 to February 4, 1915 that focused on the financial issues of the war. These articles were later collected in the book The Audacious War.
In the preface of the book, Barron wrote:
The readers will readily see that these chapters are day-to-day issues aiming to present that news from the standpoint of finance. But under all sound finance must be primarily the truth of humanity.Barron concluded that the war was started by Germany's desire to economically compete with neighboring countries through commercial treaties and protective tariffs that strongly favored Germany.
German "Kultur" means German progress, commercially and financially. German progress is by tariffs and commercial treaties. Her armies, her arms, and her armaments, are to support this "Kultur" and this progress.To achieve this goal, Germany would use war to force its economic will on other countries, as it had done in the past with France and Russia:
- After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and 1871, the victorious Germans extracted a large payment from France to punish the French for their part in the war. Germany also mandated new commercial treaties with France that favored Germany.
- After the war between Russia and Japan in 1904 and 1905, Germany took advantage of Russia's weakened position to mandate a commercial treaty with Russia that again favored Germany. The treaty was due to expire in 1916, and Barron felt that treaty would be renegotiated through war, even without the precipitating events for World War I in the summer of 1914.
The aim of Germany in alliance with Turkey was, through Austria in quasi-sovereignty over the Balkan states, to carry German influence by the Bagdad railroad right through Asia Minor to the Persian Gulf. Germany would thus be, when the work was finished, a mighty military empire with rail communications cleaving the center of Europe and extending through Asia Minor to Eastern waters. With her growing steamship lines she would touch her colonies in the Pacific and her mighty naval base at Kiao-Chau in the Far East.Germany had reason to be concerned about competition for world markets. England wanted to gain enough control of Africa to create a "Cape to Cairo" railroad connection from South Africa to Egypt. Russia's interest in more water outlets put it in competition with Germans in Turkey.
Like other war books of this time, The Audacious War does not condemn the colonialism that was indirectly related to the war. To Barron and other writers, colonialism seemed like an accepted way of doing business throughout the world. However, Barron does end the book with a call for countries to respect the rights of other countries, and cites the relationships of the United States with Cuba and Philippines as examples of a powerful country helping less powerful countries become independent.
Even if governments felt that the war was worth fighting as a way to expand economic power, it still came with a cost. Barron wrote about how the war was financed, in complex terms that were probably most familiar to regular readers of The Wall Street Journal where most of the material in The Audacious War originally appeared. These parts of the book help show the importance of gold in the world economy in the early 20th century.
In the last few weeks of 1914 the finances of Russia, France, and Belgium became interlaced with those of England, and gold credits for the Allies' supplies were established around the world, shipments from North America going both east and west into the European war.The world war quickly consumed the resources that were purchased with that money. Barron compared the access to resources in the different warring countries. Germany and Austria were isolated in the middle of Europe, which limited their access to the world market for items like gasoline. Copper was particularly valuable in Germany, where scientists and engineers worked hard to find substitutes for copper in everyday items. The war also increased the demand for items from the United States, like automobiles.
The economies of countries were mobilized as part of the war effort. In England, the private sector had to sacrifice everything from men and horses to private boats and merchant steamships. Money was raised from private citizens in different ways, from increased taxes in England to forced contributions of gold in Germany.
Barron strongly praised the efforts made by Russia to build up its military after its defeat by Japan in 1905. He mentioned the agricultural and mineral wealth of Russia, and wrote that "Russia has the greatest future of any country in Europe." Of course, the future also included the Russian Revolution two years later.
Barron was very assertive in charging that Germany was behind Austria's rejection of Serbia's diplomatic response to the assassination on June 28, 1914 of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, Franz Ferdinand. He thought that Austria's declaration of war against Serbia on July 28, 1914 was greatly motivated by Germany's desire to expand its economic empire through the Balkans.
The Audacious War also covers areas that were mentioned in more general war books. Barron showed much sympathy for Belgium's suffering after the German invasion. He listed several lessons for the United States from the war. And he called for an international organization that would enforce peace between countries.
Barron concluded the book with a call for arms limitations and no military involvement by the United States in the war.
Because of the fast pace of news in World War I, The Audacious War made a quick journey from the Riverside Press of Cambridge, Massachusetts to bookstores. "Within forty-eight hours of the time the copy was received by the printers it was set up, proof read, electrotyped, printed, bound, and jacketed, and was ready for publication by the Houghton Mifflin company," according to an article in the April 4, 1915 edition of The Wichita (Kansas) Daily Eagle.
The Audacious War was published February 20, 1915, according to The Wall Street Journal of February 18, 1915. The book was published in February 1915, according to the copyright page. The preface of the book is dated February 15, 1915. Front page headlines in the February 18, 1915 edition of the The Wall Street Journal included:
- "NOT ONE CENT FOR TRIBUTE" (About Germany's attempt to control passage of United States shipping near Europe coast)
- A NEW ERA FOR COTTON (About consumption of cotton for military use)
- LET IT ALONE (About rising price of wheat because of world shortages)
Online versions:
Newspaper information from Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/)
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